Hansard: NA: Unrevised hansard
House: National Assembly
Date of Meeting: 25 May 2022
Summary
No summary available.
Minutes
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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
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PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Watch: Plenary
The House met at 15:01.
The House Chairperson (Ms M G Boroto) took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayer or meditation.
WELCOMING OF NEW MEMBERS
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Hon members, before we proceed with today’s business, I wish to announce that the vacancies which occurred in the NA owing to the resignation of Mr G G Hill-Lewis and Mr J Selfe have been filled with effect from the 25 April 2022, by the nominations of Mr C M Fry and
Mr F Essack. You are welcome members. [Applause.] The members have made and subscribed to the oath and affirmation in the Deputy Speaker’s Office. I welcome you all, hon members.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): In the interest of safety, let us wear our masks and sit on the designated areas. Just a reminder because you have been home. The rules still apply that we must wear our masks at all times. Hon members, please note that the Motion on the Appointment to the
Secretary of Parliament will by agreement stand over. Having said that, we now proceed to the Second Motion on the Order Paper which is on the name of the Chief Whip of the Majority Party.
MOTION OF CONDOLENCES
(Mr Mxolisi Simon Sokatsha)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: The family is just entering the House now.
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Ms M G Boroto): Will you allow them to sit before you proceed, hon Chief Whip?
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: That will be very progressive hon Chair.
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE MAJORITY PARTY: Hon House Chair Mama Boroto, to members of the House physically and in virtually, I wish you a happy Africa Day.
IsiXhosa:
UMBHEXESHI OYINTLOKO WEQELA ELILAWULAYO: Sihlalo weNdlu, ndima kule ndawo ndinyembezana, ndingaqali ke phofu.
English:
This is my 18th member that I move a Motion of Condolences. From 2020 to 2022, hon Sokatsha is my 18th person from the ANC
Caucus.
Hon House Chairperson, I move:
That the House –
(1) notes with great shock and sadness the tragic and untimely passing of the ANC Member of Parliament, Mr Mxolisi Simon Sokatsha in a fatal car accident on Friday,25 March 2022;
IsiXhosa:
Yanduluka ngophanyazo inzwane yakwaGcina, ebhuzubhuzu,
imbishimbishi yooXhamela. Kufandini, akufi.
English:
(2) remembers that 57-year-old Mr Sokatsha joined the NA after 2019 General Elections and was deployed to serve in the Portfolio Committee on Health;
(3) further remembers that he is a trained educator and an accountant who previously served in the Northern Cape Legislature from 2003 to 2019, 16 years of unbroken service and I served with him in the MinMec in various capacities including as MEC for Health, Social Development, Sports, Arts and Culture, as well as Roads and Public Works;
(4) recalls that during the 1980s, Sokatsha was involved in the establishment of the Midlands and Karoo Youth Congress, the affiliates of SA Youth Congress, Sayco;
IsiXhosa:
Oovuk’ayibambe.
English:
The young lions.
(5) further recalls that he served as the Chairperson of the ANC’s Pixley ka Seme region from 1997 to
1999;
(6) acknowledges that Sokatsha served as the first post-apartheid mayor of Richmond between 1994 and
1996;
IsiXhosa:
Ukusweleka kwakhe kwalila umzi, akwatyiwa ngokushiywa nguTata uSokatsha, watsho umzi waseRichmond.
English:
(7) further acknowledges that at the time of his passing, he was a Provincial Executive Committee, PEC member of the ANC in the Northern Cape;
(8) believes that Parliament lost a very principled member, hardworking and dedicated to his work, a socialite of note, and a dancer; and
(9) extends its sincerest condolences to the family ...
IsiXhosa:
... uMama uNomvuyo okhoyo phaya, abantwana uNoluvuyo,
Andiswa, Zikhona, Milisa ...
English:
... the real Mr Sokatsha, the Junior there ...
IsiXhosa:
... wanga umphefumlo wakhe ungalala ngoxolo. Siyabulela kuni
MaGcina, booTyhopho nakuwe MaMthembu ngokusiboleka unyana
kuni, umyeni kuni kunye notata kubantwana bakhe. Wanga
umphefumlo wakhe ungasikeleleka, ulale ngoxolo. Umfundisi
undulukile kuba uBawo uye wambiza.
English:
I thank you.
Mrs E R WILSON: House Chairperson, the loss of a loved one is very hard, but the sudden unexpected loss of a loved one is particularly difficult. We can only imagine the Sokatsha family’s pain. The hon Sokatsha was born in Richmond in January 1965. Regular travellers of the N1 to Cape Town may well have known or heard about Richmond. It is a small town between Colesberg and Beaufort West. And apart from the garage on the side of the road, the town is easily missed. A couple of years ago on route from Cape town to my home province Limpopo, my car broke down not far from Richmond. It was a Saturday afternoon and I was distraught knowing that businesses, garages, and anything else in the area was likely to be closed for the weekend. I managed to get to Richmond and indeed apart from the garage where there was only one person to pour fuel, most of the businesses in the area were closed, bar one. With little help from the garage, I walked to the only open business and found a young man called Dean. When I explained my dilemma to him, he jumped into action and within no time at all, several people from the town had gathered to assist me. They drove me back to my car 22 kilometres away from Richmond, assessed the situation, and then drove back to Richmond. They managed to find the parts for the car needed. And with expertise got me back on the road Dean and his lovely team who had taken my numbers sent me messages and queries the whole way back to Limpopo until they were sure I had arrived there safely.
And what has this got to do with the hon Sokatsha you ask? Well, the hon Sokatsha and I had three passions in common, both from rural communities, the small and often forgotten small towns were close to both of our hearts. I discovered a small remote town, full of wonderful Christian folk who were
prepared to do whatever possible to ensure that I was safe and well seen to. When I was distraught, they told me that it was merely the devil's work and that our David would overcome the Goliath, and together with prayer and faith, we did. The hon Sokatsha was proud of his roots and justifiably so. He was the first post-apartheid mayor of Richmond from 1994 to 1996. And was a student of theology and a teacher. He worked tirelessly for the upliftment of rural towns and the people there. We shared the same faith and concerns about the plight of the poor and vulnerable in these remote areas. This is obvious in Richmond, where he was very influential. I worked with the hon Sokatsha for five years in the Portfolio Committee on Health, and his commitment to highlighting the plight of the struggling health system in the Northern Cape was very apparent. He served as an accountant, Chief Whip and in various portfolios as a MEC in the Northern Cape legislature from 2003 to 2019, before coming to the National Assembly. He has a long record in senior
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positions in politics, despite how ideological differences,
the hon Sokatsha never shied away from a debate or a civil and
mature discussion and was willing to listen to other
perspectives.
We had some interesting discussions, both about politics and
our different backgrounds, where we often found common ground.
He and I shared a passion for food and he would often
entertain with stories about his favourite foods, his love for
his wife's cooking and indigenous foods and herbs. Mrs
Sokatsha. Mrs Sokatsha, he often told me that no one would
ever be able to cook as well as you do. You knew his diet
well. He shared stories of his children and their successes
and was a very proud and loving father too. Mrs Sokatsha and
your children, he loved you greatly. Please accept our
sincerest condolences on your tragic loss. To his colleagues
and friends in the ANC, our thoughts and prayers are with you
all. May his soul rest in eternal peace. I thank you.
[Applause.]
Ms N N CHIRWA: Chairperson, greetings to the commander in
chief of the EFF Julius Sello Malema, and all the officials,
commissars, fighters and ground forces of the EFF, today as
the EFF, we stand in solidarity to mark the life of the now
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late hon Mxolisi Simon Sokatsha, who sadly and untimely left
the mundane world to join other fallen heroes. The EFF sends
heartfelt condolences to his wife, his children, extended
family, friends, comrades, and the ANC on their loss. As
Africans, the empathy for the loss of life supersedes various
forms of solidarity. We are one when a child is born and we
are one when one of us departs this earth.
This moment is no different. We are one with his family and
his loved ones in grieving and noting his life. Although
prematurely ended, it was well-lived and to the fullest. Hon
Mxolisi Sokatsha amongst the many of the roles he played,
serving as the MEC of Health in the Northern Cape. And most
recently, as a member of the Portfolio Committee on Health. He
was one of a few genuine cadres who was committed to the work
of the portfolio committee we have served together in since
2019. In moments of heated conflict and disagreement, he would
attempt in his peculiar way to simmer down the flames, and
when in the wrong, and even when he was right, he had the
humility to not only withdraw his sentiments but to apologize
profusely during the meeting and even privately. He understood
the sentiment that ...
IsiZulu:
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... kuhlonishwa kabili.
English:
In his quest to display loyalty and allegiance to his
political party, he did not forget humanness and sincerity in
interpersonal interactions. We were blessed enough to share
the journey of rounding up public hearings for the National
Health Insurance, NHI, across the country in 2019. He would be
the earliest to board in the morning and through his
charismatic nature, he would be the last to get inside in the
transport on our way back because he would interact with
everyone no matter their social class and or background and
political party t-shirt that they wore. He had the charisma
and ability to round all of us up at the dinner table after
the public hearings and share hilarious recollections of his
history, his family, and his children, whom he loved and never
forgot to mention whenever he was in high spirits.
My deepest condolences are thus directed to his wife and his
children. Know that he loved and cherished all of you. He
carried you with him everywhere he went. And he found great
joy in sharing how much he appreciated the warmth and the
support he received from his family. The country will forever
be appreciative of your borrowing of your father and your
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husband to the country. To the nation at large, you have lost
a leader in his own right.
IsiZulu:
Duduzekani. Alwehlanga olungehliyo.
English:
May his soul rest in perfect and eternal peace until we meet
again. Thank you very much, Chairperson.
IsiZulu:
Nk M D HLENGWA: Angithokoze, Mhlali ngaphambili, sikhala
sonke. Izinyembezi zethu ziyagobhoza zidlula ngisho izindlebe
ngale nsizwa yomhlabathi waseNingizimu Afrika. Ubaba u-
Sokatsha bekungubaba, bekungumfundisi, bekunguthisha, ngakhoke
sikhalela isizwe ngakho konke lokhu njenge-IFP. Simbonile
uBaba u-Sokatsha ekwenza konke kodwa Mama u-Sokatsha okuhle
ngoNkulunkulu ukuthi akakwenzi okungaphezu kwamandla. Sonke
sasikhathazekile nge-COVID-19. Sonke sasikhathazekile
ngoshukela kaBaba u-Sokatsha kodwa uNkulunkulu wenza ngeyakhe
indlela futhi nangesakhe isikhathi. Ngakhoke duduzeka.
Ngiduduza nomama eKwaZulu-Natal le ngakithi ngithi mama
duduzeka. Indodana yakho ibihlala ikhuluma njalo ngomama ithi
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ngizoshayela ngiyeKwaZulu-Natal ngiyobona umama ngithokoze
ngincokole nomama. Ube umuntu wamancoko. Uma esengena
emsebenzeni futhi ubengena emsebenzini. Bekungubaba
obezihlonipha.
English:
It is with the deepest sadness that the IFP ultimately heard
about the death of Mxolisi Sokatsha. I wish to extend on
behalf of His Excellency the Prince of KwaPhindangene, the
president emeritus of the IFP and our caucus leader in
Parliament, our deepest condolences to the family and friends
and the hon Mxolisi Sokatsha’s wife, as well as his colleagues
in the ANC. Hon Sokatsha, at the time of death, served as a
member of the Portfolio Committee on Health. We will always
remember him as a kind, warm-hearted person who contributed
deeply to the portfolio committee deliberations.
He carried out his oversight duties with diligence and passion
and will be greatly missed by all the members of the portfolio
committee. To the portfolio committee ...
IsiZulu:
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... ngithi bantakwethu, alwehlanga olungehli kwikomidi
elibheke umsebenzi womnyango ngiyanikhalela nani. Bekuwulimu
lakhe u-Sokatsha athi, “mntakwethu”.
English:
We also wish to extend our deepest and sincerest sympathy to
his former colleagues in the Northern Cape provincial
government where the hon Sokatsha served before becoming a
Member of Parliament. We wish to honour his commitment to the
fight for democracy in his early student days serving in SA
Students Congress and his lifelong contribution as a public
servant.
IsiZulu:
Ubaba u-Sokatsha ubeyindoda impela. Ubengawukhohliwe nomneni
wakhe. Engalikhohliwe nezwe. Siyamkhalela noMongameli.
English:
May the passing of Mr Sokatsha remind all of us of the duty we
have towards the people of South Africa. To continue striving
and working towards a better future for all those who live in
this country.
IsiZulu:
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Mama u-Sokatsha, kuneculo elithi, Ayibalwa Iminyaka, ngifisa
kube yiculo lakho lelo, usho nawe ukuthi, ayibalwa iminyaka.
Ungomunye womama owuthokozele umshado. Yingakho ngithi,
ayibalwa iminyaka. Uyadinga ukumnika uNkulunkulu udumo
sekwenzekile konke lokhu.
English:
May his soul rest in peace. I thank you.
Afrikaans:
Mnr P A VAN STADEN: Voorsitter, ek het die voorreg gehad om
saam met mnr Sokatsha sedert ons inswering as lede van die
Parlement in 2019 tot en met sy afsterwe vroeër vanjaar op die
Portefeuljekomitee oor Gesondheid te dien. Hy was ’n man met
’n ryke aktivistiese en politieke geskiedenis, ’n man wat
verkies was as burgemeester van die dorp, Richmond, in 1994,
daarna verkies as lid van die Noord-Kaapse provinsiale
wetgewer vanaf 2003 tot 2019, waar hy gedien het as LUR van
Gesondhied, Maatskaplike Ontwikkeling, Sport, Kuns en Kultuur,
en ook as LUR vir Paaie en Openbare Werke.
Sedert ons mekaar hier in die Parlement ontmoet het, het ons
’n baie goeie band met mekaar gehad. Dit moes die Afrikaanse
taal wees, wat ons saamgebind het, maar nie net die taal nie,
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maar ook omrede ons soortgelyke ooreenkomste in ons onderskeie
loopbane gehad het - eerstens as aktiviste en later as
politici.
Toe ons, as komitee, op oorsigbesoeke was of toe ons met die
Nasionale Gesondheidsversekering deur die land gereis het en
lang ure op die pad spandeer het, het die langpad besonders
vinnig kort geraak met ’n man wat die beste stories kon vertel
en almal kon laat skater van die lag. Ons twee het baie nagte
laat oor verskeie sake en in soeke na oplossings vir ons land
en sy probleme gesit en gesels.
Ons het mekaar gereeld uit die bloute per WhatsApp gevra hoe
dit gaan en of die families nog wel is. As ek op die langpad
was het hy gereeld gebel om te hoor of ek al by die huis in
Pretoria is en of ek al veilig in Kaapstad aangekom het. Ons
sou mekaar nog hierdie jaar besoek het, maar dit het
ongelukkig nog nie gerealiseer nie.
Ongeag ons politieke verskille in die komitee, het daar tog
die afgelope drie jaar ’n besonderse band tussen lede van die
Komitee oor Gesondheid gevorm. Ons baklei met mekaar en hard
ook, ja, maar ons gesels en lag net so hard saam.
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Die respek wat ons vir mekaar het is werklik iets besonders en
daarom is dit tog hartseer as een van ons kollegas skielik
oornag afsterf en jy die volgende oggend begroet word met die
slegte nuus.
English:
To the family of Mr Sokatsha and the caucus of the ANC, on
behalf of the FF Plus, our sincere condolences. His death was
indeed very tragic and shocking to all of us. We, as members
of the Portfolio Committee on Health have become like a
family, despite our political differences and if something
happens to one of us, it happens to all of us. We felt each
other’s pain. May God be with the family of Mr Sokatsha and
the colleagues of the ANC. Rest in peace, my friend. You, will
be missed.
Afrikaans:
Rus in vrede, my vriend. Ons gaan jou baie mis. Dankie.
Ms M E SUKERS: Hon Chairperson, I stand to extend the
condolences of our President, Rev Kennith Meshoe, and the
leadership of the ACDP to the family, friends and the
organisation, the ANC, on the passing of Mxolisa Simon
Sokatsha. It is with shock and sadness that I learned that Mr
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Sokatsha passed on the Saturday morning after his fatal
accident. It was very hard, because, as mentioned by hon Van
Staden and Shaik Emam that morning, this Sixth Parliament has
experienced the most deaths that both have ever seen in their
political lives.
It calls us to pause and consider what we must do in response,
and collectively, we should take the moments like these to
reflect on our own lives what it means for our country when we
lose leaders of the calibre of Mr Sokatsha. Mr Sokatsha, ...
Afrikaans:
... as ek nou in Afrikaans moet sê, was ’n oordentlike mens en
’n tipiese onderwyser, met ’n hartlikheid so eie aan die
Noord-Kaap en die Karoo - die Noord-Kaapse menslikheid met die
ope hart en die warm geaardheid soos die aarde waarvandaan hy
kom.
Die laaste vergadering van die portefeuljekomitee voor sy
ontydige dood het eerbare Sokatsha die vergadering gelei. Hy
het na my verwys met my volle name, Marie Elizabeth Sukers.
English:
And no one has called me that in a long time, with both names.
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Afrikaans:
En hy het met ’n glimlag gesê, eerbare Sukers, ...
English:
... that smile is what I was looking for on your face. We must
bring a smile to each other’s faces.
Afrikaans:
So, aan die mense van mnr Sokatsha, ek wil vir u dankie sê dat
u u pa en u man met ’n land en sy mense gedeel het, en met die
mense van Richmond. Dankie dat u hom toegelaat het om ’n
legacy [nalatenskap] agter te los, wat baie mense sal onthou.
English:
For those of us who believe in the Lord, we know that when we
are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord. Mr
Sokatsha introduced himself to me as my brother in the faith.
We have what the hymn describes, a blessed assurance. I am
going to read the first verse. It is an old hymn that carries
the truth for every believer and it is my encouragement to
you.
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine.
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine,
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Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His spirit, washed in His blood.
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Saviour all the day long.
May the Lord bless and keep you, may His face shine upon you.
[Applause.]
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Hon Chairperson, allow me, behalf of the
NFP, to express our deepest condolences to the family, friends
and colleagues of the late Mr Mxolisa Sokatsha. Also, allow me
to extend our condolences to the ANC, and yes, indeed, every
time we got to this platform and had to extend condolences, it
was very, very painful.
We can lose a Member of Parliament and you can replace them,
but when you lose a father, it is very difficult to replace.
So, we know and understand the pain that you go through.
I had the privilege of serving in the Portfolio Committee on
Health with hon Sokatsha. Indeed, I can assure you and I want
to say this to his wife and his children, if there is anyone
and anything you should be proud of, it is your late husband
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and your dad. He served this country with distinction,
starting in 2003 in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature.
Until his last breath, he served this country and he served
his people.
We often forget the sacrifices that public representatives,
like Members of Parliament make, the time they stay away from
their families. Sometimes their children grow up without these
fathers and mothers as politicians or public representative
and when you realise it, they are grown. So, look at the time
you have lost. Look at the time that you have spent away from
home, look at time and look at the risks you have put yourself
in, when you spend time on the roads. And her indeed was a
tragic accident that Mr Sokatsha lost his life in.
I want to finally say to the family, friends and the ANC, you
can go back there and rest, knowing that, indeed, this servant
of the people served us with the highest level of integrity,
commitment and dedication. You can be proud that he left a
legacy and my appeal to his family members is follow in the
footsteps of your dad, who served the people and this nation.
Our condolences once again to you, the ANC. It is a sad day,
but we can celebrate the life of this hero. Thank you very
much.
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Mr S M JAFTA: Hon House Chairperson, the AIC gives its
revolutionary banners in honour of the exemplary life that
comrade Mxolisa Sokatsha embraced during his lifetime. Comrade
Sokatsha’s life was cut short in a tragic car accident outside
Belmont in the Northern Cape.
He dedicated his life to public service and occupied various
roles in the Northern Cape, including serving as the
Chairperson of the Education Committee in the Northern Cape
Legislature. He also held various things as the MEC of the
province in various capacities, such as being the MEC for
Social Development, Roads and Public Works, and Arts, Sports
and Culture.
His passion for activism was laid bare when he led the South
African Democratic Teachers’ Union in Graaff Reinet and
Richmond. More rewarding to his movement, the ANC, was his
commitment to the ANC itself, which he served with abiding
loyalty for three years as the Chairperson of Pixley ka Isaka
Seme Region.
Our sympathy goes to his family and loved ones. His very
commitment to our democracy has improved the lives of many
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South Africans and we thank him and his family for that. May
his soul rest in peace. I thank you.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Al Jama-Ah extends our deepest sympathy to
the family and friends of the hon Sokatsha member of the
African National Congress, who passed on in a tragic car
accident on the night of 25th March 2022 exactly two months
ago. The late Sokatsha has been described by his ANC
colleagues as a revolutionary and a disciplined cadre. He had
spent most of his life fighting for a democratic and free
South Africa and he became the first Mayor of Richmond in a
postapartheid South Africa. When a revolutionary falls the
earth shakes and today we still feel the tremors of sadness.
Sokatsha was a qualified educator and an accountant and will
be remembered as a humble person. He was dedicated to his work
and served well on the Portfolio Committee on Health. I
attended the first meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Heath
regularly, as an alternate member and he asked me to make more
time as he saw I was passionate about Universal Health Care
and he wanted the first heath care facility to be launched on
the Cape Flats. He was committed to taking forward the
implementation of the National Health Insurance Act. The way
Al Jama-Ah wants to honour the late Sokatsha is to make sure
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that the NHI brings medical care to all in South Africa
[Applause.] and it is remembered that this is part of the
legacy he left behind. He will be remembered as a dedicated
public servant who prioritised the interest of the people made
of fond memories of him bring comfort to the family, friends
and his colleagues during this time of bereavement, especially
the hon members of the ANC in this House. May his soul rest in
peace.
IsiZulu:
Hamba kahle, Comrade Sokatsha.
Dr K L JACOBS: Thank you, Chief Whip and Chairperson, “I lift
my eyes to the mountains where does my help come from? My help
comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” And that
is Psalms 121 and you might ask why am I quoting this verse.
It’s purely because in the last six months, it is what hon
Sokatsha and I have been talking a lot about. You might not
know, but we had many telephone calls late in the night - ask
Mrs Sokatsha there. Whenever there is a bit of trouble on my
side or little trouble on his side, we would call each other
and apart from that we would also talk about the work of the
portfolio committee. He would always talk about his studies in
theology and the fact that he was going to be a full-time
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pastor when he had completed his term in Parliament and he
would say my real job is ‘umfundisi’. You know I would always
wonder. So, I would say hon Sokatsha, of course, I would say
Comrade Sokatsha what is it that you are really talking about?
He would say the following verse and I’m going to quote this
verse and I’m also going to give the following verses and it
was Psalms 27:1 and I’m going to say it in Afrikaans because
that was the favourite language of hon Sokatsha.
Afrikaans:
“Die Here is my lig en my heil: vir wie sou ek vrees?” Dit is
baie interessant dat Biskop April vandag dieselfde vers
aangehaal het. Ek was baie beïndruk want dit spreek boekdele
oor die persoon dat ons almal vandag hierdie waarheid oor die
persoon praat, dat ons oor dieselfde vers kon gepraat het. In
vers 8 word ons herinner dat daar staan, u het vir my hard
gesê, kom en dien my. Ek antwoord, Here, ek kom u dien.
English:
Now, you know, when we spoke about this with hon Sokatsha, he
would say I am preparing myself and I always thought he was
looking for the salvation, the truth of salvation and what had
that to mean to his own life. Now, through those discussions
hon Sokatsha was revealing the real person that he was and
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that all his participation in the matters of the struggle of
the people, no matter where he was finding himself or which
deployment he was participating in, he served this with
honours because of an intense awareness of his duties in terms
of his faith to serve the people.
No wonder he served in so many organisations and they had
reached such heights in those organisations to serve as
chairperson, to serve as MEC etc. It was all rooted in himself
and his faith in what he believed in. He was really a true
social activist because that was at the heart of his
participation in the work of the people. Whether it was as a
student, a struggle in education as a member of teacher’s
union, a struggle for legislative changes at provincial or
national level. Everywhere he was you would have seen it would
have been in the struggle of our people, as we are still
looking towards the emancipation that is ours and we should be
reminded that we have not fully really reached that
emancipation.
Now, hon Sokatsha being described as humble, hard working with
a character of a true example of a Christian faith, was also
involve in the improvement of the lives of the people of South
Africa. The departure of hon Mxolisi Sokatsha through untimely
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and tragic death has unspeakably devastated the Portfolio
Committee on Health. He was deployed at the National Assembly
by his party, the ANC and after the 2019 general elections. He
was then deployed to this committee. The work of this
portfolio committee and its mandate was very close to hon
Sokatsha’ s heart. He prioritised the work of the committee
and played his role in it with outstanding dedication and
commitment. He was invested in it because he believed firmly
in the National Health Insurance and the right for everybody
to have access to quality health care. Again, the good of all
and the good for all was the mainstay of his beliefs. He
leaves a shining legacy we will forever be indebted to him for
the work that he has done.
Those closest to him describe him as I said earlier as a
family man. A man who would always speak about his wife and
his children in every single telephone conversation. I knew
each and every of them by name. I knew the characters already
by what hon Sokatsha would be speaking to me about on the
phone. I know that there is one task that he had left with me
and his daughter to be re-admitted to medical school after
they’ve had some struggles. Really, I’m raising this on this
platform so that we work as a portfolio committee towards that
achievement. Something that he really wanted to happen during
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his lifetime. So I commit myself that we are going to work
very hard towards that. [Applause.]
To the family, his wife and his children, I want to say you
were much loved by your husband and father. I firmly believe
that hon Sokatsha had tasted that salvation which he was
seeking before his departure from this very earth, which was
so untimely. It was a great shock to all of us. It was said
here and really expected that maybe with COVID it was a very
bad time for him, and that we were on the telephone so much
and I do miss that time when he was on the ventilator that I
was not able to speak with him. It was a very difficult time
being concerned and all of us not being able to contact each
other during that period and we must always be reminded people
of South Africa about that time so that we are very careful
about what we do in terms of our interactions and please wear
your mask, maintain social distance, sanitize regularly, wash
your hands with water and soap, make certain that you protect
the family and the people whom you love. We are missing you
already, my dear friend.
IsiZulu:
Hamba kahle.
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English:
Rest in peace. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Sepedi:
MODULASETULO WA NGWAKO (Moh M G Boroto): Re a leboga Ng Jacobs
English:
That concludes the speakers list on this matter but before I
proceed...
Setswana:
A kere mo gareng ga rona re nale Mme Sokatsha, barwadie ba ga
Rre Sokatsha, ba bogadi ba ga Sokatsha, le ba leloko ba teng.
Le buile thata ka barwadie ba ga Ntate Sokatsha. Ke kopa go
eme bona le ba bone ka mo Ntlong. Ke barwadie ba gagwe bale le
leloko le le feletseng teng le ka ema ka maoto. Re a leboga.
Le ka nna mo fatshe.
English:
Hon members, I take it that there are no objections to the
motion being adopted. Will members please rise to observe a
moment of silence in the memory of Mr M S Sokatsha. The
presiding officers associate themselves with the motion, the
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condolences of the House will be conveyed to the Sokatsha
family. Thank you very much.
Debate concluded.
Motion agreed to.
DEBATE ON AFRICA DAY: AFRICA MONTH – STRENGTHENING RESILIENCE
AND SUSTAINABILITY IN NUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY ON THE
AFRICAN CONTINENT
Dr M S MOTSHEKGA: Hon House Chairperson and hon members, in
general, we use Africa Day to celebrate the gathering of the
African leaders in Addis Ababa to form the Organisation of
African Unity, OAU, on 25 May 1963. Africa is the richest
continent, but her people are the poorest because some of the
modern African leader have forgotten that the struggle of the
African people, as our icon Walter Sisulu called it, was the
realisation of the right of the African people to self-
determination. This right entails a struggle for political,
social and economic rights.
After achieving political rights some African leaders thought
it was uhuru, that is, they had arrived. They did not know
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that political right without social and economic rights is not
complete freedom and independence. Every nation needs social
freedom which resides in the arts, culture and heritage of her
people. The soul of a nation resides in these social or soft
power. Above all the life of a nation resides in its economic
power which included the power of a nation to feed, heal and
dress itself. Today, Africans depend on foreigners to provide
food, medicines and attire.
Allow me therefore, hon Chairperson, to highlight the
principal object of the struggle of the African people and the
constraints on the enjoyment of these rights by our people.
During the World War 2, Africa witnessed the emergence of the
new dynamic and radical African leaders who demanded the
reform of the colonial system but its total abolition and the
restoration of African dignity, sovereignty, political, social
and economic freedom. These African revolutionary leaders
convened the Pan Africanist Congress in Manchester in 1945.
This congress was attended by, inter alia, Jomo Kenyatta,
Kwame Nkrumah, who was rooted in Ethiopianism and Pan
Africanism. During his sojourn in the United States and the
Great Britain, Kwame Nkrumah revived and rekindled interest in
Pan Africanism but also called for the liberation of Africa
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from the colonial rule and work out strategies and tactics for
accomplishing thins which some of the leaders later applied.
Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957. The following
year 1958, he convened the first Pan African congress at
Accra, the capital city of Ghana, on the African soil. The
eight participants could not have been more diverse, not one
of them was at all close to the liberation ideology of Nkrumah
and yet they met together, committed themselves to the
decolonisation of Africa by nonviolent means and agreed to
condone the armed struggle in Algeria and South Africa. They
also agreed not to interfere in each other’s internal affairs.
Kwame Nkrumah, the father of the Pan Africanism, in December
1958, he convinced a conference of all African people. This
conference projected an unexpected lay of a rapid agenda for
the decolonisation of Africa.
Kwame Nkrumah who had inspired his historic all African
People’s Conference wrote about it as follows, and I quote:
From 5th to 13th December, I invited freedom movements
and political parties in Africa to a conference in Accra.
Delegates came from British, French, Belgian, Portuguese
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Spanish colonial territories. This was the first all All-
African Peoples' Conference. What I had in mind was to
give the forces of the liberation movement the strategy
to move into action and the tactics for that strategy. It
was to sound the clarion call for the advance and final
assault on imperialism and complete eradication of
colonial oppression in Africa. Freedom fighters came from
all over the continent and those who were then unknown
are now the leaders, presidents and prime ministers of
the colonised territory they represented. My object again
was to infuse into the African revolution new spirit and
a new dynamism and to create this where They were
lacking.
At the conference two significant points were made. First and
foremost, Nkrumah committed himself to the total liberation of
the Africans in a more definite and emphatic terms, and I
quote:
Ghana supports the struggle of the depended people for
the speedy elimination of imperialism, colonialism and
the eradication from this continent of racialism as I
have always declared even before Ghana attained her
present sovereign status. The struggle for the
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independence of Ghana will be meaningless unless it is
linked with the total liberation of Africa.
In rejecting racism whether it be white or black, Nkrumah
said, and I quote:
When I speak of Africa for Africans it should not be
interpreted in the light of my emphatic declaration that
I do not believe in racialism. The concept of Africa for
the Africans does not mean that other races are excluded
from it. It only means Africans who are naturally in the
majority in Africa shall and must govern themselves in
their own countries.
The conference was attended by, among others, leaders of the
national liberation movements of Tanzania, Zambia, Kenya,
Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde island. All in all, there
some 300 delegates representing the entire continent t of
Africa.
The African iconic leader, Patrice Lumumba, of the Congo made
a short speech where he denounced the balkanisation of Congo
and ended his speech with the cry of down with colonialism and
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imperialism, down with racism and tribalism, long live the
Congolese nation, long live independent Africa.
The conference passed a number of resolutions. The most
important resolution was on imperialism and colonialism in
order to combat the colonial strategy of divide and rule.
In 1960, when a handful of African countries were free, there
was a first sitting of the UN General Assembly. That sitting
brought together newly independent African leaders in Harlem,
the incubation centre of African nationalism. There, they met
Fidel Castro who emerged as the leader of the Afro African
nations. It was in that conference where the basis for the
African struggle was clearly explained in resolution 15(14)
which was championed by Khrushchev, the Soviet leader. That
resolution made it clear that all colonial powers must
transfer power to the colonised people without restrictions or
any form of conditions. That meant therefore that the type of
freedom that had to be given to the people must be full
political, social and economic freedom. If that had happened,
we would not have an Africa today which is poor, where the
people are sick, the people cannot help themselves and they
rely on foreign countries, especially Europe to feed, heal and
dress them.
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This means that land reform is indispensable for food
security. We cannot after so many years of freedom in Africa
have a situation of food insecurity. But food insecurity is
not going to depend on resolutions by parliaments that there
must be enough food for the people. The food security can only
be guaranteed if we effect meaningful land reform because the
land is the basis of any economic power. On the land people
are able to produce food, medicines, minerals, arts and
crafts. During the colonial times the monopolists owned
agricultural farm lands, water and mineral rights and markets.
The colonialists were therefore able to control food and
mineral production and to reduce colonial peoples into their
cheap labour.
Leaders like Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba, Kwame Nkrumah and
Thomas Sankara became the victims of the European imperialism
because they opposed monopolies and exploitation of colonial
people. This European aggression forced newly independent
African states to become depended on foreign monopolies for
food, medicines and all goods and services. Thus African
countries do not own their economies. Countries like Zimbabwe,
which was the bread basket of the Great Britain, was brought
to its knees by trying to regain the land and natural
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resources which is a prerequisite for establishing a national
economy. African countries ... [Time expired.]
Sepedi:
Ke a leboga, mme.
Sepedi:
Mna N P MASIPA: Kgotsong ...
English:
... House Chairperson, the Charter of the United Nations
Organisation enjoins African states to amongst other things,
create a better life for all the peoples of Africa. Post 1994,
South Africans were promised freedom and a better life for
all. South Africa’s Constitution that was adopted in 1996,
bears the hallmarks of a liberal democratic order. The
Organisation of African Unity also enjoins leaders in the
continent to play an active role in the global arena.
The Ukraine war provides Africa with an opportunity to
introspect on global matters that affect our food basket. In
keeping with the spirit of the Organisation of African Unity
Charter the Democratic Alliance leader not only spoke against
the war in Ukraine, but also visited the conflict zone and saw
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first-hand the threat of food scarcity and looming high
inflation if the war persists. That is what Africans do to
show love and care.
Sepedi:
Batho ke go hlolana, ke segagaborena seo.
English:
House Chairperson, while 60% of the world’s arable land is in
Africa, the continent is faced with many farming challenges
with abundant opportunities. These challenges and others
contribute to many of our brothers and sisters to flee the
continent to the world to seek asylum and refuge due to hunger
and other economic reasons because of our institutions are
being mismanaged. House Chair, our challenges are not without
opportunities, already prior to Russian war on Ukraine, prices
of fertilizers have already gone up by over 100% and we expect
another increase of 70%. All the potassium and 70% of the
nitrogen fertilizers are being imported.
While Foskor is supposed to be the able could use fertilizers
cheaply for the whole Southern African Development Community,
Sadc, region due to the mismanagement, the institution is
producing less than 20% of the needed fertilizers for farmers.
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As parliamentarians, let’s join hands and let’s make
agriculture work in the continent. We are duty-bound to ensure
institutions such as Foskor work and that the continent
continue to produce enough fertilizers and lower costs of
production and ultimately lower the costs of Inter-African
trade in the continent.
House Chairperson, under the ANC many agricultural
institutions collapsed due to poor policy choices on
diplomatic relations, investment and food production. For
example, the Land Bank used to provide cheaper loans to
farming community. Poor policies choices have failed the bank.
The lesson learned in the continent is not to repeat the
mistakes of Zimbabwe’s government expropriation of farms.
Despite these uncertainties caused by poor policy choices ...
Afrikaans:
Ons weet dat boere altyd ’n plan maak. [Tussenwerpsels.]
English:
To strengthen resilience and sustainability in nutrition and
food security on the continent, we must accept that the
continental and global challenges affect our farmers. The
quiet diplomacy on global matters by our government, the ANC
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government, is a cause for concern. We have a duty to engage
the global community to avoid the global risk of food
production. While the potential dire consequences of Russian
war on the continent is huge, our farmers remain resilient.
They need government support not the corruption from our
colleagues on the right.
As we celebrate Africa Day’s milestone, let’s join hands and
address the looming danger of inflation on the food
production. May this Africa Day be remembered as the day when
Africa took herself a right place in the world, a day when
African legislators stood up and spoke out against attacks on
foreign sovereign countries and the threat imposed on world
food production. I thank you, Chair, and happy Africa Day ...
[Applause.] ...
Ms T P MSANE: Thank you, Chairperson. Chairperson, on this day
in 1963, 32 heads of states of newly independent African
nations met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in order to chant a new
path forward for growth and development in the continent. They
did so mindfully of the devastation brought to the people of
the continent by colonial conquest that had ravaged the
continent over three centuries at the time.
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They were mindful of the fact that for a period of over four
centuries, the west had abducted over 25 million African
people and turned them into slaves, in the plantations of
America which in turn provided the basis upon which American
and the entire western capitalist economy grew. They were not
confused about the artificial nature of the borders that
colonialism installed in the continent which separated
families, clans and communities.
The emperor, Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, who hosted the
inaugural conference of the Organisation of African Unity,
outlined the purpose of the meeting in 1963 as follows, and I
quote:
We stand today on the stage of world affairs, before the
audience of world opinion. We have come together to
assert our role in the direction of the world affairs and
to discharge our duty to the great continent whose 250
million people we lead. Africa is today at mid-course, in
transition from the Africa of yesterday to the Africa of
tomorrow. Even as we stand here, we move from the past
into the future. The task of which we have embarked, the
making of Africa, will not wait. We must act to shape and
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mold the future and leave our imprint on events as they
slip past into the history ...
Today, 59 years later, Africa has not made much progress
towards freeing herself from the bondage of neocolonial
control. as the towering Pan-Africanist, Dr Kwame Nkrumah had
anticipated the failure to unite the African Continent has
given birth to clusters of client states who exists mainly for
the purpose of enabling the continued neocolonial control of
the continent by their former colonial masters.
Despite her resources today, Africa and the African people as
a whole continue to be the wretched of the earth. Africa has
about 60% of all arable land in the world, good and large
enough to wipe out poverty and famine in the continent, yet,
we are home to the world’s largest population of poor people.
Most of the land is in the hands of neocolonial masters and
locked up in unreasonable land administration systems that
prevent development. The Grand Inga hydroelectric power
project in the Democratic Republic of Congo, can produce power
that can light up the entire continent, but it is also in the
hands of neocolonial masters who will do everything to prevent
the completion in that project who will ensure that it
benefits them more than it benefits.
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The continent has the largest reserves of Platinum, the
largest reserves of gold and diamonds. The Congo alone has 80%
of the world’s reserves worth of cotton, a mineral that is
used to produce advanced cellphones. The Ivory Coast and Ghana
are the world’s largest producers of cocoa and yet, the very
same producers of cocoa hardly see the product such as
chocolate made from the very same cocoa they produce. Africa
does not benefit from all these resources because we have
maintained the colonial structure of our economies.
We extract from the African soil critically important
resources and these are then shipped outside the continent as
raw products to be processed in the western countries and
imported back at a premium price of finished goods. This is a
consequence of a lack of centrally planned economy for the
continent. We need to revisit key plans such as the Abuja
Treaty, which emphasised and had timelines for the ultimate
unification of the continent. We need a bold, Pan-African
approach for African development premised on the political and
economic unity of the continent.
The new African Continental Free Trade Agreement, must
emphasise the need for manufacturing and infrastructure
development as the backdrops upon which the African continent
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can develop. The Pan-African Parliament must be given greater
legislative powers and have exclusive areas for legislation
making for the entire continent. Areas such as defence,
economic and monetary policies, must be driven from a
centralised basis to shield Africa from opportunistic and
greedy western influences.
Lastly, we call on France and all other colonialists to leave
the African continent alone. We can do well on ourselves
without the interference of former colonisers. African
liberation day will remain a hollow celebration if we do not
do what the founding fathers of the Organisation of African
Unity sought to achieve, and that, is a united continent able
to feed and develop her own people. Africa Day without full
control of African resources, without a complete withdrawal of
former colonial masters, without full eradication of poverty
and underdevelopment, it is just a hollow celebration. Thank
you very much, House Chairperson.
Mr M HLENGWA: Hon House Chairperson, according to an April
2022 media report, the International Committee of the Red
Dross says that about 346 million people in Africa are facing
severe food insecurity, meaning that they have likely
experienced hunger. The causes are listed as conflict, climate
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change and rising food and fuel prices. It is therefore
fitting that the AU’s theme for this year is: Strengthening
resilience in nutrition and food security on the African
continent, and that we must gather today on Africa Day to
discuss this critical issue. This, particularly as South
Africa has not escaped unscathed.
According to a 2022 Statistics SA report, in 2020 almost
23,6% of South Africans were affected by moderate to severe
food insecurity while almost 14,9% experienced severe food
security. With nearly one in four South Africans forced to
skip meals and go to bed hungry on a regular basis, one could
be forgiven for focussing first on the nutrition needs of our
own people and developing our own resilience before reaching
out to the rest of the continent.
Our Constitution under section 27 states that everyone has the
right to have access to sufficient food and water. However,
instead of ensuring the provision of this most basic human
right in necessity for life, government departments lose
billions to corruption, and irregular and fruitless and
wasteful expenditure every year.
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On the opposite end of the spectrum, we have civil society and
organisations like FoodForward SA that provide millions of
meals to vulnerable South Africans ... access all nine
provinces each year. Delivering one meal costs FoodForward SA
only 68 cents, which is less than R1 per meal. How many
millions could be rescued from hunger if government had a
faithful steward of the country’s ... [Inaudible.] Surely
then, we would also have sufficient resources to provide
assistance to our food-insecure brothers and sisters on the
African continent.
As the IFP, we do not sit idly by as children starve and this
is why food security has long been part of the IFP’s top
priorities where we govern, consistent with the teachings of
Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, not just on Africa Day or in
Africa Month, but every day, every month and every year. Where
the IFP governs, we support subsistence farmers by providing
materials and equipment to promote local economic development.
We develop co-operatives and assist emerging farmers, in
particular projects led by women and the youth. Farm workers
are a key component for food security and the IFP prioritises
their rights and needs.
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We also need to promote the sustainable use of land and ensure
necessary access to land. All these initiatives echo the IFP’s
principles of self-help and self-reliance. As the saying goes,
give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish
and you feed him for a lifetime.
The realities of food insecurity on the continent cannot be
divorced from the raging conflicts and the instability which
we see. It therefore becomes important that a multipronged
approach not only focusses on diplomatic relations towards
democratic stability on the continent but a far more
aggressive and deliberate approach towards ensuring food
security on the continent, particularly for women and
children. The agenda of silencing the guns has to take
precedence in this regard as well.
Closer to home, we need to do more. We need to focus our
energies on ensuring that we revive the farms that used to
ensure that our people have food. We need to have a skills
transfer and an education system that is responsive to the
needs of the agricultural sector to ensure the sustainable
livelihoods of our people in so far as food security is
concerned. This is non-negotiable because without food there
is no future. Our people are hungry now and the challenges of
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malnutrition confront us today. This requires a health care
system that is also responsive and fully functional to the
daily lived realities of our people. It requires ...
[Inaudible.] ... our people about what it is that will ensure
that they live a fruitful life in so far as nutrition is
concerned.
IsiZulu:
Ngiyabonga kakhulu Sihlalo.
Afrikaans:
Me T BREEDT: Voorsitter, ’n belofte van R50 miljoen aan Kuba
om hul voedselnood aan te spreek. ’n Bedrag van R22 miljoen
vir ’n vlag om nasiebou te bevorder. Beide hierdie
aankondigings was ondeurdag en uit voeling met die realiteit
van Suid-Afrikaanse burgers. Die eerste moes deur ’n dringende
hofinterdik van ’n burgerregteorganisasie tydelik gestop word,
met die tweede wat ook nou hersien word nadat nagenoeg die
hele Suid-Afrika saamgestem het dat R22 miljoen vir ’n vlag ’n
slegte idee is. Dit, terwyl 40% van Suid-Afrikaanse burgers
honger is en aan die amptelike vereiste van honger voldoen.
Dit is ’n skreiende skande!
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Ons kollegas uit die regerende party-banke praat gereeld oor
Afrika-eenheid en die Afrika-Vryehandelsooreenkoms. Daar word
baie oor die kontinent ... hoe lande moet hande vat om mekaar
by te staan en voedselsekuriteit aangespreek moet word in die
kollektief van die kontinent ... geredeneer. Daar is Afrikadag
en Afrikamaand.
English:
However, when push comes to shove, this ANC government would
rather prioritise historical friends than the continent. Until
this is not addressed, we will not help to debate
sustainability in nutrition or food security on the African
continent. Today is a futile exercise because it will not
assist the millions of hungry Africans throughout this
continent. Talk shops do not work; action helps.
When looking at the statistics, it is quite shocking. Chronic
nutrition contributes to stunting in children under five years
of age. This means that a child is too short for his or her
age and it can have long-term negative impacts on health and
development. The prevalence of stunting is the highest in the
world in Eastern, Middle and Southern sub-regions of Africa.
In South Africa, one child in four under the age of six has
chronic malnutrition and is stunted because of that.
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Acute nutrition also contributes to the wasting of children.
In 2020 globally, 45,4 million children under the age of five
wasted away; a quarter of that in sub-Saharan Africa alone.
According to the 2021 Global Hunger Index of countries that
are most affected by hunger and malnutrition, only eight out
of the 30 are not in Africa.
In 2017, conflict was the major cause of food insecurity and
hunger in 18 countries, affecting about 74 million
individuals. Eleven of those 18 countries were in Africa,
which totalled about 37 million people. More than 42% of South
Sudan’s population faced severe food insecurity and that was
in a ...
Afrikaans:
... oorlogsone. Suid-Afrika staan op 40%, buite ’n oorlogsone.
English:
The history of hunger and famine in Africa reads like a horror
novel.
Afrikaans:
Sedert die 1960s is dit of droogte of oorlog of vloede wat
voedselsekuriteit in Afrika bedreig. Miljoene is al dood as
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gevolg daarvan. Terug op eie bodem, die mees onlangse is die
vloed in KwaZulu-Natal.
English:
If KwaZulu-Natal has taught us one thing, it is that South
Africa does not yet have a structured system to deal with food
security and disasters such as drought or floods.
Afrikaans:
Voorsitter, ek sluit af. Te midde hierdie faktore, natuurlike
rampe en oorloë, is daar nog een bydraende faktor wat
voedselsekuriteit in Afrika en spesifiek in Suid-Afrika
kniehalter en bedreig. Dit is die ANC en die ANC se ideologie.
Solank as wat die ANC regeer, sal daar nie voedselsekuriteit
in Afrika of in Suid-Afrika wees nie. Ek dank u.
English:
Rev K R J MESHOE: Chairperson, our country has proven in a
number of ways that it has the capacity to recover quickly
from a period of serious challenges and difficulties. To
strengthen resilience in this nation, we need to build strong
relationships with our families, neighbours and friends to
enable us to build support systems that will sustain us during
difficult times and stormy days.
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Africa has not done well in the area of sustainability. A
number of positive things that were inherited after
independence have been lost because of the lack of
sustainability. In most cases, African countries inherited
excellent road and rail infrastructure that could not be
sustained because of the lack of proper maintenance by
subsequent governments.
During my primary school days, children were taught proper
hygiene, good nutrition and how to plant and grow vegetables,
but those good practices were abandoned years later. We now
see how governments are failing to teach society, particularly
school children, how to balance individual rights with
personal responsibility for our actions and future.
We cannot strengthen sustainability in nutrition that our
children and the broader society know nothing about. As
threats of food insecurity increases by the day, governments
must start programmes to encourage members of the public to
start growing their own food. Families should be encouraged to
start their food gardens and to train their children and
friends to do likewise.
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The continent of Africa cannot continue complaining when we
can do things for ourselves. We need leaders in Africa that
tackle human rights abuses, stop the increasing incidents of
gender-based violence on the continent and create environments
that will be safe for all those living and visiting their
countries.
Africa needs to silence the guns, and start using their vast
land to produce food for their people and start planning to
export food to those countries that don’t have the spacious
tracks of land that we are blessed with. We have the
potential. We have the means. Africa should start looking
inside as to what is holding us back and see the potential of
feeding not only the continent but parts of the world. Thank
you.
Setswana:
Rre N L S KWANKWA: Ke a leboga, Modulasetilo. Dumelang
bagaetsho.
English:
Ladies and gentlemen, I think the point we should make here,
perhaps less eloquently ... they’re making it less eloquently
than other speakers, is the fact that Africa is not short or
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does not lack ... is not short of plans. If you were to study
in 1900 the first Pan-African Conference, which was organized
by Henry Sylvester Williams, an advocate from Trinidad &
Tobago, and then another one in 1919, which was organized in
Paris. You look at, especially, the most important one, the
1945 one, the Manchester conference, where leaders were trying
to outline the vision of an African they sought to become.
The speakers that came before us also cited the important The
Summit of the Heads of State in 1963 in Addis Ababa, where
Haile Selassie was an important host. Even then, the plan was
to try and outline an African renaissance programme which
sought to cover a number of aspects, included in them is one
of food security.
I want to also remind this sitting that in 1979, many will
remember that there was a Monrovia Declaration, which sought
to deal with this aspect in particular. It talks about food
supply and food security.
Fast forward to the 1980 Lagos Plan, same thing is contained
there.
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Fast forward to New Partnership for Africa's Development,
Nepad, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the same
issue is contained in there and many other issues.
What lacks, is perhaps commitment on the part of leaders on
the African continent, in particular, to make sure that these
goals and dreams and plan are indeed realized.
If you were to even look at the Agenda 2063, it’s the same
thing that we talk about. We are very good and eloquent at
identifying problems and even writing fancy and glossy problem
statements, and even come up with fancy and creative
proposals, but the problem with the African continent is the
lack of implementation.
I want to give an example. I grew up in one of the Bantustans
in the former Ciskei area where people were encouraged to do
subsistence farming. The point that was made here by Rev
Meshoe, Ntate Moruti, is very true that, that is what used to
happen in the past. But it can’t happen in Africa where there
are serious and gross human rights violations, where we are
failing to silence guns on the continent, where we tolerate
despotic regimes on the continent. But not only that, look at
the influence of the former colonial masters on the rest of
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the African continent, especially when you talking about the
Francophone region, and what is happening there.
The issue that we want to put forward is that institutional
bodies such as the African Union, AU, and the institutional
framework that we make possible to the Constitutive Act of the
AU, if you remember the one which was adopted in 2000, are the
ones that should be helping us to drive these programmes
forward because if we don’t do that we are not going to have a
coordinated programme and plan for the future. Amandla!
[Power!] [Applause.]
Mr B N HERRON: House Chair, South Africa, collectively,
produces more food than it can eat ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M L D Ntombela): Your attention, hon
members. Give a member a chance, please, your attention. Thank
you.
Mr B N HERRON: House Chair, South Africa, collectively,
produces more food than it can eat. In approximately a quarter
of our population experiences food shortages. With
approximately a quarter of our suffering from hunger, how can
we expect to build a sustainable and stable society?
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We cannot make progress while young and old are going to bed
with empty stomachs.
Environmentalism, sustainability and climate change, are all
issues that are no longer up for debate. They are matters of
national, continental, international and even planetary
concern.
There are borders, politics and discussions with mother
nature. So, we need to understand that as matter of
generational justice, for sake of future generations, we need
to make serious change and implement preventative measures.
While other nations struggle to deal with tsunamis,
earthquakes and tornados, which wreak havoc in urban
environments, we face a completely different type of killer,
floods, fanons and drought impact one of the most basic needs,
being the access to food. An issue that the entire African
continent has been battling with for decades.
KwaZulu-Natal’s flooding disaster is the living evidence that
there is need for rapid change in our attitudes. That we are
not only to combat climate change, but safeguard our people
against the fallout after the disaster has taken place.
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Food security should be what grounds our ‘we building’
project. We have lost critical crops for both domestic
consumption and exports. Our task now is to reduce our impact
on the climate and build back with the clear understanding of
how our consumption of our natural resources, including land,
has contributed to the devastation we’ve seen.
We can also take inspiration from the incredible projects
being created by African organizations to combat this.
Projects such as the Eastern Cape’s Sibusiso Ready Food
Supplement, which provides a taste similar to peanut butter,
has been a major success and a major form of aid to children
battling malnutrition.
We must support sustainable fishing solutions such as the Zini
Fishing Farms in KwaZulu-Natal. These farms should not be
forced to close their doors due to a lack of funding and
investment. Rather they should be protected and supported, as
the future of sustainable fishing in South Africa.
Initiatives and companies such as these have the potential to
feed and employ families, communities and eventually towns,
with the correct support.
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Education plays a vital role in understanding the idea of
sustainability. But when our citizens don’t have the necessary
... to survive or support a family, how can we expect them to
care about the future rather than the empty plates of the
crescent?
We have the South African means, we have the South African
innovators, but what we lack is the support of policy in
government.
Let this Africa Day be the first seat counted in our journey
into a sustainable South Africa. Thank you.
Ms B S MASANGO: Hon Chairperson, as we join our sister
countries on the African continent to celebrate Africa Day,
despite the challenges the continent continues to face, we
echo the pledge made on the 25th of May 1963 by the Emperor
Haile Selassie when he said “May this convention of union last
a thousand years.”
If there was a time when the continent of Africa needed strong
resilience and sustainability in nutrition and food security,
that time was now. But a question has to be asked, what really
weakened the resilience and sustainability in nutrition and
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food security in Africa? The answers are complex and lie in
the factors that are way beyond the continent’s control and
many can be put at the door of different governments and their
leadership. That is where the strengthening will find its
origin.
There have been events unique to Africa, both self-inflicted
and inevitable, that have to be evaluated. Among those beyond
her control, one can include climate change, pandemics
including the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, drought and the
most recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. The
need for resilience against these disasters is justified.
However, resilience against conflict, corruption and greed is
asking too much from the battered citizens of Africa, given
the fact that resilience, according to Oxford dictionary means
“The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties.”
Africa’s difficulties have been ongoing, unrelenting, unending
and hard-hitting, and they have not given the continent or her
citizens time and space to recover quickly.
The statistics of food insecurity in Africa are staggering and
are testing the resilience, courage and fortitude of millions
of Africans on a daily basis. The resulting assault forced
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many, against their will, to flee their home countries just to
survive.
Let us focus, for example, on South Africa’s shocking food
insecurity statistics. According Stats SA, in 2020 almost
23,6% of South Africans were affected by moderate to severe
food insecurity, while almost 14,9% experienced severe food
insecurity.
We have confirmed statistics of 3 886 children under the age
of five years dying in South Africa’s medical facilities form
acute malnutrition in the past five years. These figures are
children who die in medical facilities, this means the picture
is far bleaker when one considers the number of children dying
at home. But it is hardly surprising, given the runaway food
prices that so many unemployed can ill afford.
According to the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity
Group’s household affordability index in April 2022, a
household food basket increased by 2,1% from R4 450,09 in
March, to R4 542,93 in April.
It is deeply concerning that government uses none of these
readily available data to make decisions that affect millions
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of South Africans. For example, what is the SRD grant of R350
based on? What scientific evidence was this based on?
This picture is mirrored against an estimated 346 million
people in Africa who are facing severe food insecurity. It
gets even tougher to strengthen resilience when reports say
that Africa’s numbers of under-nourished people is growing
faster than in any region of the world.
Hon Chairperson, I submit to you that although Africa’s people
might be experiencing the most difficult time in recent
history, all is not lost. The men and women sitting in this
and many other chambers throughout the continent, enabled by
their constitutions can play a meaningful role in ensuring
that the theme of today’s Africa Day is realized in
foreseeable future.
We owe it to the pioneers who fought gallantly for us to
celebrate Africa Day today. We also owe it to the future
generations to bequeath to them a continent worth celebrating.
Hon Chair, I dare politicians to take personal and collective
responsibility to reflect on the state of the continent.
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May the words I kept seeing during my research on Africa Day
for this debate, which are: extreme hunger, drought, conflict
and corruption be replaced by abundance, high employment,
harvest, peace and justice.
And lastly, may God bless Africa and her people. [Applause.]
Setswana:
Moh M M E TLHAPE: Modulasetulo wa Ntlo, maloko a Ntlo a a
tlotlegang, Maaforika ke a dumedisa. Ke boitumelo go tsaya
karolo mo kgothakgotheng ya go keteka letsatsi la Aforika.
Aforika e re ipelang ka yona. Ya dimela, diphologolo,
dimimerale, dithabamawatle a a ikgethileng. Re le Maaforika,
rele batho ba yona ka ditso tse di farologaneng. Rotlhe re
dumela gore temothuo e botlhokwa mo kontinenteng ya Aforika.
Le fa e sa tsewe tsia mo manaaneng a di politiki le ya mebuso,
seo se fokotsa kgonagalo ya peeletso mo temothuong mme ebile
se tsenya ditshireletso ya dijo mo pitlaganong.
English:
House Chairperson, from the very root of its foundation, the
ANC has always been Pan African in outlook and orientation.
Today we celebrate Africa Day, the day on which the
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organisation of African unity was established in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia in 1963.
This is a very historic day in liberation of all Africans from
oppressive, colonial and apartheid rule.
Setswana:
Gompieno batshwari ba rona ba etlatlarietsa fa re keteka. Ba
batla gore re dumele gore mathata a ba re a diretseng ka
dingwaga ngwaga, ba re tseela lefatshe, tshwana le go tlhoka
tiro le go bolawa ke tlala, re ka a dirilola mo nakong e
khutshwane. Mme ba re bolelela ka bobodu, ba re bolelela le ka
go ruga madi. Fela re a itse ka Seaforika gore motho fa are
dipodi di a sisa, a be a bone ka tsa kwa gaabo.
English:
Hon members, climate change and subsequent depletion of
resources have left mutilations to the bulk of African
communities, in particular the disadvantaged members of our
communities.
In celebrating and supporting Africa Day, I will therefore
speak on climate change issues in Africa with regard to
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preservation of environment for sustainable nutrition and food
security.
Fellow Africans, the increasingly unpredictable and erratic
nature of weather systems around the continent have placed an
extra burden on food security and rural livelihoods,
widespread destruction of farms and homes by floods previously
in Burkina Faso, recent floods in parts of KwaZulu-Natal,
Deelpan in the North West Province and some parts of the
Eastern Cape here in South Africa as well as the prolonged
drought in Ethiopia demonstrate the extend of the threat posed
by Africa’s changing climate.
Other adverse impacts of climate change are also manifesting
themselves on the continent and this includes heatwaves,
increasing crop airs and diseases. We have experienced as
South Africa a fair share of crop air such as fall army worm
brown locust infestation even veld fires.
Hon members, the major concerns for Africa’s key economic
sectors include a heightened threat to foot security. In
adequate water resource availability, generation in natural
resource productivity, diminish biodiversity and increasing
land degradation. All these affect both crops and livestock.
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Of late, there has been a great appreciation of the
interdependencies between water, energy and food security and
this came to known by some academics as water energy food
energy nexus approach. It is argued that water of at the core
of sustainable development and has strongly changes that all
sustainable development goals and that climate change will add
measurable stress to water resources in many regions of the
African continent.
Fisheries will particularly be affected due to changes in sea
temperatures, declining incomes and rising unemployment are
expected to hit agriculture zones. It is evident that small
agricultural towns and dorpies economies are collapsing.
However, we are hopeful as South Africa is moving towards
addressing through the district development model approach.
House Chairperson, the commemoration of Africa Day therefore
should remind us of the provisions of the AU Master Plan, that
is Agenda 2063, the Africa we Want. Of particular importance
are the goals that suggest programmes such as ending hunger,
achieving food security and improving nutrition as well as
promoting sustainable agriculture.
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Implementing climate smart agriculture for increased
productivity and production, promoting biodiversity,
conservation and sustainable resource management including
water security, developing environmentally sustainable and
climate resilient economies and communities including natural
disaster preparedness.
Hon members, the African Union has a number of continental
frameworks and declarations essential for combating Africa’s
food and agricultural programme and this includes
comprehensive agricultural development programme, the Maputo
Declaration, the Abuja Food Security Summit Declaration and
Malawi Declaration on accelerated agricultural growth and
transformation.
In order to guarantee Africa’s food security, there needs to
be increased agricultural trade among African states. The
African Continental Free Trade agreement is a historical
realisation of the OAU for an increased trade cooperation
among African states and African diaspora.
One of the purposes for this agreement is to work towards
promotion of industrial development through diversification of
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regional value chain development, agricultural development and
food security.
Hon members, much work must go to local level with regard to
understanding the impacts and communities’ capacity to adapt.
Our continent must prioritise addressing the challenges of
climate change with national development plans adopting
pathways that are climate resilient and less carbon intensive.
They must promote clean, efficient energy technologies and
sustainable management of natural resources such as land,
water and forest. Such development pathways would help reduce
exposure of vulnerable communities in Africa to the adverse
impact of climate change. While at the same time contribute to
the global greenhouse gas emissions reduction efforts.
We must promote agro forestry with trees that improve soil,
fast growing trees for fuel, indigenous fruit trees, to
provide added nutrition and income as well as trees that can
provide medicinal plant products.
We need to create food banks and discourage food waste. There
efforts to limit emissions in South Africa. Hon members, we
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must agree that climate change is now part of our daily lives,
we have to learn to limit and adapt its impact.
The Bill or Rights in our Constitution is the backbone of our
democracy and in it, we have section 24 that deals with
promotion and the protection of everyone’s rights for an
environment that is not harmful to their health and wellbeing.
National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, processing
Climate Change Bill and Presidential Climate Change Commission
are some of the issues we must focus on to mitigate and adapt
to climate change and meet South Africa’s international
obligations.
Above all, we must promote our indigenous food, promote our
national bread and produced cultivars by the Agricultural
Research Council to fight food insecurity.
We therefore support the call for agricultural intensification
and resilience of food production systems to be strengthened
through formation of key signage between mitigation and food
security.
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This means Minister environment and Minister agriculture must
collaborate in successfully leveraging finance from mitigation
to support climate smart agricultural development strategies.
Fellow Africans, let us all embrace and implement our master
plan Agenda 2063, the Africa we want. I love you Africa and
I’m proud to call you home. May God bless Africa, bless her
sons and daughters. [Unknown foreign language.]
Afrikaans:
Baie dankie.
Sepedi:
Ke a leboga.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: Thank you, hon House Chair, yes, it is
correct that Africa is one of the richest continents, but it’s
got nothing. It has 30% of the world’s minerals but doesn’t
control it. It has 40% of arable land. Only 13% of the food
needs of the African continent will be able to be delivered as
a result of corruption, looting, maladministration, self-
enrichment, wanting to stay in power until the organisation is
taken to the grave, and not wanting to relinquish power,
that’s what’s happening on the African continent.
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I heard somebody saying “God bless Africa”. God did bless you
with all these things. What did you do? You took it and
destroyed it. It is exactly what we have done.
Let’s look at it. The east African community, west African
community, the central African community are all sitting with
the same problem. Let me tell you one of the problems you
have. You had 811 million people in Africa in the year 2 000.
That has increased to 1,4 billion in 2021. That’s the only
thing that increased, nothing else.
Let me tell you what the experts are saying. Low quality
education is one of the root causes of why there is no
progress in Africa, and this country is one of them. Let us be
honest, poor quality education is not producing the skills
that you need in this country like the rest of Africa as well.
The next thing they are highlighting, and very important is
the poor infrastructure in the entire Africa. Exactly the same
problem we have here now. I don’t know if you saw the road – I
think it is Worcester – if you saw the road, even very
important persons, VIPs, that are taking the Members of
Parliament and the Ministers around will not be able to go
there. That I can promise you.
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Let me say something to you. Africa has all the gold, diamond,
the copper, the iron ore ... [Interjections.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M L D Ntombela): Hon Emam.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: the platinum ...
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M L D Ntombela): Hon Emam. Hon
member.
Mr A M SHAIK EMAM: ... but we have nothing. ...
[Interjections.] ... Africans are their own greatest enemies.
That is why there is no success. As long as you have selfish
leaders in Africa who do not want relinquish power, Africans
will never be better off. Thank you very much, sir.
Mr S M JAFTA: Thank you, hon Chair, Africa has 54 recognised
states. Most of these states are conflict-ridden and food
insecure.
Obasanjo, Nigeria’s former President wrote that and I quote:
“Conflict and fragility poses a major challenge to Africa’s
growth prospects”. Despite Africa boosting natural mineral
resources, there is: “Strong evidence that these has not
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resulted in inclusive economic and social transformation”.
That’s according to Obasanjo.
While many African states were bread baskets for the
continent, their economies have been affected by rigid
nationalisation policies, corruption, struggle for ownership,
management and control of natural resources, as well as
unequal distribution of these resources.
Besides infrastructure on the continent ... [Inaudible] ...
has direct bearing for products ... to produce their own food
for example, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the 11th
largest country in the world, has fewer than 1500 miles of
paved roads. For ordinary citizens, the most common options
for transportation are their feet, bicycles and dugout canoes.
We know that road infrastructure is important in the value
chain of food production and distribution.
Therefore, Africa must invest in social and road
infrastructure for its food security. It must implement
expropriation of land policies with an open eye for food
security and agricultural production. Africa must diversify
its export commodities and invest in new technologies sectors
such as the ocean economy, aquafishing and agro-processing.
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We commend the investment support provided by the African
Development Bank in countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, DRC,
Liberia and Sierra Leone, who received budget support
programmes in the early stages of peace that helped those
countries to further stabilise their economies and also
support the agricultural sector and water supply, as well as
sanitation infrastructure rehabilitation. This was seen as
central to providing food security in those countries and
alleviating the plight of the poor. Thank you, hon Chair.
Mr M G E HENDRICKS: Hon House Chair, let us be committed to
the war crimes, which resonated throughout Africa during the
anticolonial struggle which is land, self-determination and
the conscience of Ubuntu.
It has been 64 years since the call for Africa day and yet
African countries are dependent on the mercy of their former
colonial masters. African countries are still being held
ransom by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,
IMF. Ten years after this call, one of the champions for
United States of Africa was brother and leader, Muammar
Gaddafi. I would like to read something from his book, The
Green Book, when he came up with the third universal theory on
how to help Africa to become United States of Africa. On page
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140, he wrote, and we must understand that what he put in The
Green Book is what he had already implemented in his country.
There is a living example of the concept in his Green Book:
In this new society, land becomes of all in which each
member of the society has a right together with their
relations to carry out his cultivations without employing
others. They entitled to cultivate wheat or maize, grow
trees or raise animals. No one hampers them. This form of
ownership is invaluable and nobody is allowed to touch
it.
He goes further on page 140 to say:
Homes, clothes, food and money are vital necessities for
human beings and one’s possession for these items is
considered sacred ownership. But, when one acquires more
than one’s needs of these vital necessities, someone else
has been deprived of them. Therefore, society has the
right to expropriate what one has in excess of one’s
needs.
I hope the EFF is listening on the concept of expropriation
and compensation and understand what it really means.
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Al Jama-ah wishes every African citizen and residents a happy
Africa Day - a day that should be viewed not only as notable
but that it should be memorable.
Coming back to Ubuntu, we should say that this is a key
concept in African philosophy, it is one that is in line with
the teachings of Islam. These teachings are indeed rooted in
Islam’s primary sources. Together they reinforce universal
values that includes, amongst others, honesty, humbleness,
goodness, kindness and respect. Happy Africa Day.
Ms A M M WEBER: The evolution of humanity says South Africa
reaffirms that she is continuing her rise from the ashes.
Whatever the setbacks of the moment, nothing can stop us now.
Whatever the difficulties, Africa shall be at peace. This is
Thabo Mbeki from his I am an African speech.
For too long climate change was seen as an issue for the
elites, environmentalists, and the academics. The South
African government never seem to realise how much climate
processes will affect ordinary South Africans.
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As we stand here today, we cannot deny how the two are
interlinked. South Africans are feeling the severe impact of
climate change.
Hon Chair, 30,3 millions of South Africans are not at peace.
Their difficulty and setback is poverty and hunger. They are
desperately trying on a daily basis to rise out of the ashes,
to get employed, to fight poverty, but to no avail.
13,8 million South Africans are experiencing severe food
poverty. This is an absolute disgrace.
South Africa experienced serious consequences of climate
change. We experience heatwaves, droughts, water scarcity and
food insecurity, for example, Day-zero in Cape Town, the
Garden Route fires, the impact of Cyclone Eloise and Anna to
Mozambique, and how close this is to South Africa’s coastal
cities? The Nkweba Dam in Graaf-Reinet, the heatwave in Cape
Town, droughts all over the country impacting on crops and
being counterproductive, floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Day-zero in
Port Elizabeth.
Before COVID-19, the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale,
HFIAS, analysis indicates that South Africa already had a very
serious food insecurity problem of almost 10 million people.
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The high levels of poverty across South Africa leaves many
without the resources to buffer themselves and recover from
the changing climate.
Poor people do not have access to food. They do not have money
to buy food. With the petrol price so high, they cannot afford
taxis or transport. Self-sustainable vegetable gardens can
only be effective if there is water and correct temperatures.
Children in our country are dying due to malnutrition and
hunger. We cannot turn a blind eye anymore and think that
climate change does not have an impact.
South Africa needs leadership that would effectively and
actively combat climate change to ensure that the earth
doesn’t warm with another 1,5 degrees Celsius. No strategic
plans or international signed Paris agreements will make a
difference without the political will or proper
implementation.
Government’s ineffective enforcement of the law to ensure the
prosecution of perpetrators is costly. Coal or fossil fuel
power stations keep polluting with no consequences.
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The mining industries, especially illegal miners do not
rehabilitate, destroying ecosystems and water ways, which
causes temperatures to keep on rising. Industries continue as
well as there are no consequences for their behaviour. Their
contribution to climate change is disastrous.
Climate change interventions need to form an integral part of
budgets and should not be regarded as an optional. The people
of South Africa deserves more. They deserve a government that
cares, a government that will ensure that there is food
security, a government that will ensure that there are
consequences to those that jeopardise the lives and food
security of other South Africans. Then only, can we speak
about peace. I thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND CO-
OPERATION (Mr A Botes): Hon House Chairperson, President of
South Africa, Mr Ramaphosa, Deputy President Mabuza, Cabinet
Ministers, fellow Members of Parliament, Chief Whip of the
Majority Party, hon Majodina and all members of the eight the
Regional Economic Communities, Recs, of the African Union, AU,
I thought ladies and gentlemen and colleagues, it is important
to take this House into confidence that Pan-Africanism is the
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most pivotal and important foreign policy priority of the
South African government, coupled with global solidarity.
We do so hon House Chairperson, because we acknowledge that we
were once a people who were oppressed, subjected through
imperialism and colonialism. We acknowledge that because of
global solidarity. Countries such as Cuba, Egypt, Libya,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, constitute an indelible role
in our freedom.
We acknowledge that once there was the 1884 Berlin Conference
convened by King Leopold II of Belgium. So, we acknowledge
that as the rest of Africa we were once an oppressed nation.
We therefore give homage to Kwame Nkrumah, Abdel Nasser,
Samora Machel, Kenneth Kaunda, Haile Selassie, Sam Nujoma,
Jomo Kenyatta and Julius Nyerere.
We do so because we do identify ourselves as Africa.
The most important questions that Members of Parliament must
pose is that: What is the optics through which you look at
South Africa and at the rest of Africa?
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If you do identify with Africa, you will realise the true
agenda 2063 which speaks about inclusive prosperity and Africa
we want that indeed the glass is half full.
If you do not identify with the Pan-Africanism, you will
submit that the glass is half empty.
We do identify that there has been progress made hon House
Chairperson, through strengthening resilience in nutrition and
food security on the African continent in line with aspiration
one.
We do submit that the Sustainable Development Goals, SDG, is
pivotal especially, SDG 1 that speaks about ending of poverty,
and SDG 2, that speaks about zero hunger.
We do confirm adherence what former President Thabo Mbeki,
says is that as Africans to have a common and shared unity, it
requires a common and shared value system. That value system
is underpinned as it relates to acknowledging the
eestablishment of the African Task Force on Food and Nutrition
Development in 1987.
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The adoption of the Maputo Declaration, the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development, Nepad, initiative in 2003, the
adoption of Malabo Declaration in 2014, the endorsement of the
African Union Nutrition Champion in 2014 under the stewardship
and the tutelage of His Majesty King Letsie III of the Kingdom
of Lesotho and the launch of Continental Nutrition
Accountability Scorecard in 2019.
Strengthening and the Resilience in Nutrition and Food
Security on the African Continent requires Unity of Purpose
amongst all African Union states.
It cannot be that according to the African Development Bank,
we have 65% of the uncultivated, arable land left in the world
to feed nine billion people, by 2050.
In 2017, alone House Chairperson, Africa spent 64,5 billion US
dollars on importing food. This is unsustainable and
unaffordable. It is also absolutely unnecessary. What we
require is to act with unity of purpose; is to immediately
eliminate the negative balance to start to saw, grow, process,
consume and ultimately export the food ourselves.
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Hon House Chairperson, agriculture accounts for 60% of jobs
across the continent. Despite its central role, the
agricultural sector accounts for 16,5% of Africa’s gross
domestic product, GDP due to its low productivity
Implementing the Abuja Treaty in its totality, is therefore
more urgent and pressing than yesteryear, the African
Continental Free Trade Area, is a perfect vehicle for enhanced
Intra-Africa Trade.
We do so hon House Chairperson, because we are conscious that
there is a R16,3 billion, commitment from the South African
government, in terms of financing its agriculture and food
security endeavours.
I have also looked substantively at the Statistics SA report.
Unlike some of our members wants to quote the following:
In South Africa, the South African government, through its
decisive intervention have reduced multidimensional poverty
from 17,9% in 2001, to 7% in 2016. Household hunger in
South Africa has dropped from 2,7 million to 1,7 million
per household.
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Hon House Chairperson, it therefore hoards that there is a
leadership of foresight, that is committed to the Maputo and
the Malabo Declarations.
We are committed as the South African government, to all seven
of the Malabo commitments. That includes the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme Process which amongst
others are led by Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Rwanda.
The second commitment is about the financial facilities in
agriculture, led by Zambia, Eswatini, Seychelles and Egypt.
With regard to the Malabo commitment number three of ending of
hunger by 2025, South Africa together with Kenya has through
the eyes of the AU registered remarkable progress in reducing
postharvest losses above the Malabo target of 50%. South
Africa recorded a definitive leapfrogging of 99,88% of
reducing postharvest loses. This should be music to the ears
for the farming community of South Africa.
Hon Chairperson, we are committed as the South African
government to work towards halving of poverty throughout
agriculture by 2025 working amongst others with countries such
as Ghana and Morocco.
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In terms of Malabo commitment five the Boosting Intra-Africa
Trade, we know that the trade figures in South Africa have
increased remarkably. We have recorded that unlike in the
past, when South Africa, the chief trading partners to South
Africa was the regional block of European Union, EU, what I
can confirm to this House today, ladies and gentlemen, is that
exports to Africa in 2021, stood at R385 billion, against
exports to the EU which stood at R355 billion. What is says is
that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is an
important instrument in mobilising the agricultural
communities and enhancement of food security.
On Malabo commitment six the enhancing resilience to climate
variability, South Africa is committed to work with Zimbabwe,
Namibia, Malawi, Morocco, Lesotho, Ghana, Gambia and the
Seychelles around this matter.
Good news! On Malabo commitment seven the enhancement of
accountability, South Africa is leading in this regard
together with Rwanda, Morocco, Mauritania, Tanzania, Tunisia,
Senegal and Ghana.
We therefore wish to commend the four African states -
Burundi, DR Congo, Ethiopia, and Mali, for having met the
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target of spending at least 10% of the national expenditure on
agriculture, thereby being the lodestars of the Maputo
protocol.
Hon House Chairperson, landownership, inequalities and
landlessness are growing, and in Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya,
Liberia, and Southern Africa, they are high enough to
undermine shared growth and social cohesion. We should
therefore take note and learn lessons from the successful
redistributive land reform programme undertaken by Mali.
Hon House Chairperson, South Africa appreciates substantively
that inclusive prosperity will be accelerated through good
governance and we acknowledge the stewardship role of the
African Peer Review Mechanism, APRM, in this regard. We
equally appreciate the foresight of African Union Development
Agency, AUDA-Nepad, which shapes our development dividend, and
the economic prosperities to be made possible by the urgent
implementation of the African Continental Free Trade
Agreement. We concur that Africa’s peace and security
architecture is a critical driver for development, through the
African Peace and Security Architecture, APSA.
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We must therefore be proud hon House Chairperson that the
Organisation of African Unity substantively achieved its
objectives of decolonising Africa. We must be confident on the
occasion of the 20th anniversary of the African Union that an
inclusive prosperity for Africa is a real possibility.
Hon House Chairperson, as I conclude, we must frown at a South
African state on politics of brinkmanship. It says that when a
political party seeks to undermine the foreign policy
perspective of a government, it is politics of brinkmanship.
We should at all times respect territorial integrity of member
states of the United Nations.
We should at all times advance the issues of peace diplomacy
in Africa and in the rest of the world. Therefore, what is
important ladies and gentlemen, is that our bilateral trade
with both Russia and the United Kingdom, UK, stands at
approximately R16 billion. It is in the interest of the South
African government that there should be an immediate cessation
of hostilities, there should be the implementation of the 2015
Means Agreement and there should be, ladies and gentlemen the
matter of determination for the people in the Donbas region.
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I wish to conclude and thank you, hon House Chairperson,
“Siyabonga”, “Enkosi kakhulu”, Baie dankie vir julle insette”,
“Ke itumetse”, “Asante sana”, “Merci beaucoup”, thank you very
much. [Applause.]
The HOUSE CHAIRPERSON (Mr M L D Ntombela): Hon members, may I
humbly request your attention.
Hon members 15 hon members, presented a very good debate
today. The rest of this House was very attentive and well-
behaved.
So, the decorum of this House was strictly observed.
Congratulations. That concludes the debate and the business
for the day. This House is adjourned. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
The House adjourned at 17:17
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